Game



E. F-SCHMIDT.

I GAME. APPLLCAION FILED DEC. 20, 1919.

15421575, Patented July 4, 1922.v

Fieifiilistr GAME.

raarste,

Specification of Letters Patent.

-ratented July 1, 1922,

Application filed December 20, 1919. Serial No. 346,293.

To all t0/tom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDwAnD F. SCHMIDT, a citizen ot' the TJnited States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State oi' Illinois, haveinvented new and useful 1mprovements in Games, of which the following isa full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing, forming a part oi" this specilication.

My invention relates to games. More speciiically it relates to a gamewhich simulates the game of baseball.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide such a game which willbe amusing, interesting` and instructive to the players.

Further objects will appear from the description to follow and from theappended claims.

In the drawings in which one embodiment of my invention is shown:-

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the game apparatus with the cover removed;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional' view on the line 2-2 oi Fig. 1 withthe cover on, and

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The construction shown comprises in a general way, a trough-shaped floor10, across which the ball 11 rolls (one side of this trough-shaped floorbeing slightly higher than the other side, and the ball being started onthe higher-side, and rolling down this higher side, and then up theopposite lower side) an approximately horizontal, but slightly dishedfloor portion12, onto which the ball 11 rolls, after it has run the sideof the trough-shaped iloor portion 10 (the horizontal floor portion 12being providedv with a plurality of openings 13, through which the ball11 iinally drops) an inclined return chute 14, onto which the ball 11falls when it drops through one or the holes 13, and a rectangularbox-like housing and supporting member 15, which surrounds and supportsthe floor portions 10 and 12 and the return chute 14, giving arectangular box-like eect to the whole construct-ion.

The entire construction can be made ot straw-board or card-board, theparts being secured together in any suitable manner. It desired a sortof box cover 16 may be provided to be slipped on over the upper edge ofthe box-like portion 15 when the game is not being used. A cover can beprovided for the bottom box also to facilitate handling.

l As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the floor portion 12 is located asubstantial distance below the upper edges of the box-like portion 15,so that the walls of the box-like member 15 extending' above the iioorportion 12 will prevent the ball 11 from rolling ott oi the floorportion 12. v

As shown in Fig. 1 there are a considerable number of the openings 16,and this together with the Jfact that the floor portion 12 is slightlydished will insure that the ball will drop through one oi the holes 13,when rt rolls out onto the floor portion 12, as the dishing of the floorportion 12 will keep the ball rolling around until it does fall throughone of the holes 13.

The construction of the trough-shaped floor portion 10 whereby the balliirst rolls down an incline and then up anV incline, gives aconsiderable length of travel to the ball, yet prevents excessive lspeedof the ball at the time when it rolls oit from the trough-shaped floorportion 10 onto the horizontal iioor portion 12, as the travel of theball slows up as it goes up the side of the trough-shaped floor portion10,*so that it is traveling fairly slowly when it rolls out on thehorizontal i'loor portion 12. rlhis comparatively long travel of ytheball togetherv with the going up ot the ball before it rolls out on thehorizontal floor portion, adds to the interest of the game, byprolonging the period of suspense or uncertainty as to which one of theholes the. ball will fall into and` enabling the progress of the ball tobebetter observed.- Also the dishing of the horizontal Hoor portion 12tends to increase the length of travel of the ball, as the ball may rollaroundv for some time on this dished Hoor portion, thus prolonging theuncertainty and suspense.

In playing the game, the player places the ball on the edge of thehigher side of the trough-shaped iioor portion 10, and lets it roll downacross this trough-shaped floor portion, onto the horizontal floorportion 12. The ball will then roll around on this horizontal floorportion 12, (being prevented from rolling off by the upstanding walls ofthe box-like portion 15) and finally falls through one of the openings13 onto the return chute 14.

The openings 13 -are provided with various indicia, to indicate variousthings which may CTX occur at different stages or" the game. As

shown in Fig. 1 some of these holes are marked Strike, others are markedBall,

others marked One Base, Two Base, Three Base and Home Run etc. It isintended that these holes shall be. arranged so that those occurrenceswhich are the most rare in actual base ball will be represented: byopenings which are least apt to receive theball 11, thus the hole markedHome Run is at the extreme back of the horizontal floor 12, so that theball would have to get past all of the holes in Jfront of it, and thehole marked Home Run is also near the outer edge of the floor, so thatthe dishing of the floor will tendv to carry the ball away from thishole and toward the center,

' thus making it ditlicult .for the ball to fall CIK into this hole.

The return chute 14 at the rear portion of the box-like portion 15extends completely acrossthe box-like structure but the front portion ofthis ball returning-chutek is made tapering as indicated at 17 to bringthe ball toward the central portion of the box 15, into a little pocket18 located inside the box 15.

In order toget the balls out of this pocket 18, the box 15 has anopening 19 Jforming a hand hole into which the hand can be placedinorder to get at the balls in the pocket 18. rIhe edges of the returnchute 14 may be turned up at 17, in order to direct the ball into thepocket 18.

The tapering of the chute 17 leaves an open space between the edges ofthis chute and the sides of the box. In order to prevent any possibilityof the ball bouncing when it strikes the return chute 14 and fallinginto the space between the inclined portion of the chute and the box, Iprovide a delector 2O located under' the front line of holes 13, so thatif the ball should Jfall inches is very satisfactory.

The game is to be played by two persons, or by two sides. In playing'the game, the person representing the side which is supposed to be in,will place the ball on the front edge of the floor portion 10 and allowit to roll down this floor portion. Ilz" desired the ball may be given asidewise motion, to

Vone, sidejor the other, with the idea of enabling the ball to reach thehole which it is desired to reach. The ball will roll across thetrough-.like portion and out onto Vthe dished floor portion 18 and willroll around on this dished floor portion until it falls through one ofthe holes. If it should Jfall through one of the holes marked Ball theplayer would take the ball out of the pocket 18 and roll again,continuing until three strikes are registered or Jiour balls or until abase hit was made, or some indication was made as to what happened tothe player who was supposed to be up at bat.

The openings marked Out are provided to take care of various ways inwhich the batter might be out, other than by striking out, as forinstance, by a foul or fly ball being caught, or by being thrownout inrunning bases. If the ball should fall into the hole marked SacrificeFlyOut it would mean that thebatter himself was out on a caught ily butwhatever men were on the bases would` be advanced one base. The holesmarked One Base, Two Base, etc., mean, of course, that the batter makesaone base hit, or two base hit, etc. It is of course obvious that otherarrangements of holes could be made, and that additional holes could beprovided for various other contingencies if desired. It desired meansmay be provided for registering the balls, runs, etc.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and ,desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A game comprising arollable object, and a floor for said object to roll on comprising aportion inclining downwardly from the starting point, a second portioninclining upwardly therefrom, and a third. substantially horizontalyportion onto which said object rolls, said third portion being dished,and provided with a plurality of openings into which" said object mayroll, whereby said object will roll down said first portion, up saidsecond portion, and around on said horizontal portionA until it fallsinto one of said openings.

QJ. A game'comprisinga rollable obj ect, a box-like structure havingparallel vertical side walls, having substantially lhorizontal upper andlower edges, a floor for said object to roll on, from one end to theother of said box, said Hoor having a. number of openings at one end inwhich said object may roll, said floor extending from one side to theother of the sides of said box and a return Hoor extending Ytrom one endto the other of said box, and lying wholly between the side wallsthereof .and underneath said playing floor, onto which said objectJfallsV upper and lower edges, a floor for said object to roll on, fromone end to the other of said box, said vfloor having a number ofopenings at one end in which said object may roll, said floor extendingfrom one side to the other of the sides ot said box and a, return floorextending from one end to the other of said box, and extending betweenthe side walls thereof, onto which said ob* ject falls when it dropsthrough one of said opening, said return ioor serving to return the ballto the end of the box from which it started, said box-like constructionbeing provided with end walls, one of said end walls having a hand holetherein adjacent the delivery end of the return :Floor through which theplayer can reach and get the rollable object after it has been returned.

el. A game comprising a rollable object, a box-like construction havingparallel vertical side walls, having horizontal upper and lower edges,said side walls being of sheet material, a floor on which said objectrolls from one end to the other of the box, comprising a portion bent toform a smooth curved surface having aI portion extending downwardlj7Jfrom one end of the box at a decreasing inclination, and a. secondportion extending from said first portion and inclining upwardly at anincreasing inclination, said portions together forming a smooth curve, athird substantially hori- Zontal portion at the rear end of the boxhaving a number of openings into which said rollable object may roll,and an inclined return Hoor inclining downwardly from the rear end ofthe box to the front onto which said rollable object drops when it fallsthrough one of said openings, said return floor extending downunderneath the curved portion of the floor to the front end of the box.

5. A game comprising a rollable object, a box-like constructioncomprising two parallel vertical side walls having horizontal upper andlower edges, a loor Jfor said object to roll on from one end to theother oiE said box, having a number of openings at one end into whichsaid object may roll, an inclined return chute leading from the rear endot the box to the front end thereof for returning the rollable object,and a deflector located between said openings and said return chute ontowhich said object may fall to prevent said object from bouncing over thesides of said chute.

6. A game comprising a rollable object, a box-like construction havingparallel vertical end walls, and parallel vertical side walls. saidwalls having horizontal upper and lower edges, a floor extending betweensaid side walls and leading from one end to the other of said box forsaid object to roll on, said floor having a number 0f holes into whichsaid object may roll, an inclined return chute leading from the rear endof said box to the front end thereof, and a receptacle at the front endof said box to which the object is "delivered from said return chute,the end wall of the box adjacent the pocket having a hand hole therein,through which the player can reach and get the ball j out of the pocket.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

EDWARD F. SCHMIDT. lVitnesses CLARA V. BUDZ, C. G. NrLssoN.

